Accentuate the Accent
In reading Paul Riceour's quote at the introduction of Kenneth Frampton's article Towards a Critical Regionalism, I found myself contemplating more about effects of globalization that I have personally experienced beyond just architecture. With the age of internet, air travel, and cellular phones, we are more connected than ever, which is largely beneficial. But, there are some things that may be lost and not recovered, some parts of culture that cannot be reclaimed. The concept of critical regionalism is of the utmost importance and might solve some of the "cultural loss" within architecture, but I think that there still is a greater conversation to be had about what we give up when we are all connected. A prime example of this, I think, is in fact my own Chicago South Side accent.
My grandfather has the epitome of the South Side accent. He pronounces his 'th-' sounds like 'd' sounds, exaggerates the letter 'a', and speaks with the harsh nasal pitch and emphasis that makes him sound like he's always a little bit aggravated. He swears in Polish, shoots squirrels with BB guns who dare accost his apple trees (which he has planted in various abandoned lots in his neighborhood of bungalows) and anywhere he sits is soon surrounded by empty Old Style cans . He was a bottler at a milk plant, a handyman, and grew up in a very Polish neighborhood on the South Side. He has spent his entire life there, and his accent makes that evident. I too have some of the accent, and I wear it with pride - even though I can't pronounce "backpack" in the way most people here would, it is a signifier of a place and a culture. The South Side is unique. It has been historically immigrant-filled, blue collar, rough-and-tough people who stayed in the neighborhood generation after generation. There is a culture and sense of place that is distinctly different even from the North Side neighbors, who we historically as South Siders find "uppity".
I came across this article a few years ago and realized that such an accent, or almost any other local or regional accent, may not have many more generations to live.
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/local-accent-dialect-daley-superfans-wendt-mancow/BestOf?oid=22604803
As later generations started to move away from the South Side, it changed. People were more educated, and speaking in such a "low brow" manner was no longer accepted in new locales. And this article argues that the loss of accent is due to a loss of diversity, but I think in fact it's moreso that we are now more mobile than ever. We are so diverse that people come to and move from Chicago regularly that the cultural traditions of accents in large metropolitan cities no longer have the punch that they once did. It may be longer until the watering down of accents begins in more rural places that attract fewer newcomers, but as we increase in mobility and as small, intimate areas become part of mega-regions, who is to say that such a part of culture will be preserved?
I think that the concept of critical regionalism within architecture is obviously important, but it can only do so much. It is still new, it is still different, and in many ways that's good. Change and progress are positive entities. But perhaps more than anything, this reading made me consider the parts of culture that are not so easily reinterpreted or revived with a modern twist and contemplate how they might change in the future.
My grandfather has the epitome of the South Side accent. He pronounces his 'th-' sounds like 'd' sounds, exaggerates the letter 'a', and speaks with the harsh nasal pitch and emphasis that makes him sound like he's always a little bit aggravated. He swears in Polish, shoots squirrels with BB guns who dare accost his apple trees (which he has planted in various abandoned lots in his neighborhood of bungalows) and anywhere he sits is soon surrounded by empty Old Style cans . He was a bottler at a milk plant, a handyman, and grew up in a very Polish neighborhood on the South Side. He has spent his entire life there, and his accent makes that evident. I too have some of the accent, and I wear it with pride - even though I can't pronounce "backpack" in the way most people here would, it is a signifier of a place and a culture. The South Side is unique. It has been historically immigrant-filled, blue collar, rough-and-tough people who stayed in the neighborhood generation after generation. There is a culture and sense of place that is distinctly different even from the North Side neighbors, who we historically as South Siders find "uppity".
I came across this article a few years ago and realized that such an accent, or almost any other local or regional accent, may not have many more generations to live.
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/local-accent-dialect-daley-superfans-wendt-mancow/BestOf?oid=22604803
As later generations started to move away from the South Side, it changed. People were more educated, and speaking in such a "low brow" manner was no longer accepted in new locales. And this article argues that the loss of accent is due to a loss of diversity, but I think in fact it's moreso that we are now more mobile than ever. We are so diverse that people come to and move from Chicago regularly that the cultural traditions of accents in large metropolitan cities no longer have the punch that they once did. It may be longer until the watering down of accents begins in more rural places that attract fewer newcomers, but as we increase in mobility and as small, intimate areas become part of mega-regions, who is to say that such a part of culture will be preserved?
I think that the concept of critical regionalism within architecture is obviously important, but it can only do so much. It is still new, it is still different, and in many ways that's good. Change and progress are positive entities. But perhaps more than anything, this reading made me consider the parts of culture that are not so easily reinterpreted or revived with a modern twist and contemplate how they might change in the future.
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